blazenblue63

Sounds great doc no hurry. I'm just collecting parts right now. I don't plan to install anything till March. Do you mean one set or one shock new?

blazenblue63

Also since you used em, what stiffness setting did you use?

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Service Manual

docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

Only one of the shocks is new. It was replaced under warranty and I never installed it. The other 3 have very low milage on them

blazenblue63

Sounds great what springs did you use with them? I'm looking at tein s-techs. I'm also looking at brake pads. I think I'm going with the hawk hps? I think they're called. Also a brake fluid change (the blue stuff) and a coolant change. I found a diy on lowering the leather seat but I think that works on my cloth one too. I just need a half an inch of headroom or so for my helmet to clear. I think that alone will gain me a second lol to actually sit properly. Then after my rpf-1 go on with star specs I'm going with a catback exhaust (probably borla) and down the road a sway bar when I feel what the new suspension is doing. somewhere in there I want to upgrade my ignition to a bhr one and do a couple visual things. Window tint and calipers painted.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

That "to do" list rivals mine. But I have more of the parts in waiting...

I put HPS pads on Kristen's car for street driving only. I'd go with HP+s if I were you. I'm switching back this season from stop techs to HP+s myself.

You also have the pop-up book version of the service manual.

blazenblue63

It's the performance street pads I was looking at. Not the full blown track pads. I'm aiming to have everything by the first race but if it takes a little longer it's no big deal. the most important is the seat and that one is free lol.

Gopherage

Very fancy. Thanks for looking it up for me. I tried to peak up in there but like you said I will need a mirror because I couldn't see anything. I ended up taking out my glove box and the cabin filters and putting a wooden snap trap on the ledge with a little peanut butter on it. I also put one in the engine bay near to where all the heat fabric is chewed up.

Machiavelli

I'm having visions of a dead mouse somewhere in your system where you'll never find it.

blazenblue63

Maybe the gasses from the rotting carcass will act like nitrous :p

Gopherage

Well at least it would only stink for a year or so.....


Haha who needs forced induction when you've got rotting mice.

blazenblue63

Hey doc any word on the koni's? If you're selling them what would you want for them? I'm going to start ordering parts in the next couple Weeks so I know what I have to work with.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Latest project was to inspect and rebuild a differential.
I didn't have a bearing separator handy, so I couldn't pull the rear bearing off the drive pinion


The rear bearing showed a straight line across all its bearings as if something was riding in its race, but the groove couldn't be felt with my finger tip so it may not have been a big deal.


All the seals and bearings from the pinon side will be replaced along with the side gear seals


The actual differential component looked good, so I don't see a need to tear this apart.


The housing and cover will be taken to work and dumped in our parts cleaner, along with some other components.


Fun part will be getting it all back together... this is where everything must be within spec or bad things can happen.
Pinion height adjustment is critical so the tooth contact between the drive pinion and ring gear is perfect.
Then with checking backlash and figuring out the correct shims, all these adjustments/verifications take time to get it done right.

YZF-R6in

hey guys, how's it going? new here and i have a quick question to ask. i work at eastside mazda and volkswagon in Willoughby Hills. I just started here a few days ago, and found out we have an 07 rx8 here that's for sale. i've been thinking about buying it but would rather have someone that knows about RX8's take a look at it. Hopefully someone here in Willoughby if there is someone here lol. I'm just really skeptical about buying used cars in general let alone a rx8 that has 63k miles on it. who knows what the previous owner could've done to the car within those miles.

few things it's doing...

started it up today, it was cold. probably in the 30s outside. sitting inside the car waiting for it to warm up when i noticed a thumping noise coming from the engine. almost like a base kick from a rap song haha. it wasn't severe but it was definitely noticeable. assuming that's not normal <_<

also when you push the clutch in when the car is sitting it makes some kind of mechanical noise from the front of the car. is it supposed to do that too? never noticed that before in any other manual car i've driven.

and i'm also guessing one of the wheel bearings is starting to go as well, rumbling coming from the right rear.

any advice is greatly appreciated because i am totally torn on these vehicles.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Those noises are not normal and you should have someone look at it before buying.
Too bad you, working at a Mazda dealer, can't find someone to look at it (sorry, had to say it).
Good thing for you is the RX8 is not a winter-driving vehicle unless you have good snow tires (and even then I don't like idea of driving it).
So you can wait for the weather to warm-up and have someone help you out to give it a once-over.
Willoughby Hills isn't too far away, but my schedule is full for the next several weeks anyway.

YZF-R6in

the mechanics that work there, i don't trust. would much rather have someone from here take a look at it. i feel like they would just brush it off, you know? i talked to some of them before and they all hate the car. so if someone hates the car, i def don't want them telling me what could potentially be wrong with it lol.

is there someone you know by any chance that i could pay to take a look at it? i don't mind paying a little out of pocket to get an honest answer. it's still under that extended warranty that mazda gave out, so if all else fails, i can do something to the engine and get it replaced :PPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Anyone I "know" will be viewing this thread... so you can see if anyone volunteers to drive up there (though the one guy who lived near you moved away not too long ago).
Hit me up in a couple weeks and I'm sure I can drive there to look at it.

Oh... and in your other thread... Razz1 is right when he said the RX8 is for a car guy.
You have to be willing to "baby" this car more than others and when parts do need replaced, you're better off replacing them yourself.
Starting fights with knowledgeable people here will only result in them stepping back and leaving you with individuals who have no hands-on experience.
You need tough skin at first and except the fact that you'll be hazed a little when you ask "newbie" questions.
But once they see you're willing to listen and take in any information no matter what is said, you'll be just fine.
So tone it down a little in that thread, gather all the information that is given, and let them know I'll look at the car with you in a couple weeks (anytime after Jan).

Then... any other "newbie" questions can be asked here (in this thread) because we'll be nicer to our local crowd than the general forum will be.
But don't shy away from browsing and searching through the various threads because most of your questions have been asked multiple times.
And you can learn much from just hours of reading, which is how I gained most of my knowledge on the RX8.
Once you get an understanding, then its time to get your hands dirty (which is when the real knowledge is learned).
This is the best advise I can give you now.... good luck...

YZF-R6in

yeah i understand and i won't in the future. i appreciate the input a lot. but i think i'm going to pass on this particular one. there are just too many things wrong with it. especially since it probably was run dry on oil. i spoke to one of the techs that came in to finish one of the cars (on a sunday! lol!) and he said that it's most likely a bad rotor too, like Razz1 said. Even though it's under warranty, someone else in the other thread said they would only rebuild it. I don't want a rebuilt engine, I'd rather want a brand new one put in. So I have piece of mind that no one else but me has driven it.

so i thank you a lot and hopefully i find one here soon so i can finally be a true member of the forum!!!

blazenblue63

When they speak of having a new engine on this forum 99% of the time they are talking about a rebuilt one. The dealer orders a new engine (which comes from a plant in Virginia where they rebuild blown engines) and swap them out, your blown engine then goes to Virginia to be rebuilt. Those engines are hit and miss. Some last a 100k and some lasted only 20k. As far as 07's are concerned they are a lot rarer to have engine problems than the previous years (04 and 05 mainly) because of little things they changed like the engine mapping.

Gopherage

Hey Jon when are you going to be putting that differential back together. May sound like a weird request but would you mind if I watched and learned. I probably will never attempt something like this but I always want to learn as much as possible. And your a nice 3 minute drive from my house.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Not that I mind Josh, but most of my work is done in the middle of the night since that is when I'm awake.
If it looks like I'll do all this during the daytime... I'll let you know.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Jon - Dif rebuild doesn't look too bad. Any reason someone would need to do this as part of regular maintenance? Or just under "harsh" conditions?

And just so I know, this isn't the dif that has been beat on, its the donor dif?


YSZ: I don't fully understand what you're looking for from any locals. You say there might be some stuff wrong already wrong with the car that doesn't relate at all to RX8s only (Wheel bearing and odd rear end noise.) The mechanics at you place should have no problem testing those because there is nothing different about the rx8 and other cars there.

Now, if you are worried about your engine health, you can use your connection to the dealer for that too. Compression testing a rotary engine requires some special stuff (sensor and software). Normally a dealership charges like $75 for this. Those numbers will give you answer about the engine must more accurately than one of us coming up and saying "hmm, sounds normal"

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

Proper capitalization goes a long way. Also, fragmented sentences make baby Jesus cry.

My brain hurts now.


Danny,

You spoke about getting new pads for autocross in the STX thread. HPS pads, to put it mildly, suck. The stock pads are going to be better than these.

You mentioned you want something with low brake dust. Well here is the conundrum... A "high performance" pad is going to be dusty, period. Its just one of the sacrifices you will make to have better grip when stopping. A decent street/autox pad would be the HP Plus. Its not the best thing out there, and will dirty your wheels A LOT, but it is better than stock. Personally I only run those because they are cheap and easy to get in a pinch. I will be testing a couple sets of pads this year to find something with a little more bite.

The brake fluid you are refering to is ATE Superblue. And to be honest, you really don't need a high temp fluid for a single driver car that only does random autocrosses. You won't heat the fluid up enough to require a DOT 4 fluid in a single driver car that I am assuming does not do left foot braking. But this is a moot point I gess as it doesn't hurt to have it, I'm just letting you know it's not required for your particular application.

I run DOT 4 because not only do I do track days with my car, I also will have a minimum of 2 drivers at every event in my car, with a max of 4 people, so my fluid has a greater chance of retaining heat and boiling, expecially since two of the people in my car will left foot brake. This is also the reason I will not be running HP+ pads this year. Too many times last year have I experienced brake fade from the pads the hotter they get. I have gotten close to the max operating temp range on them quite a few times (think 2 driver car, same group, chinese fire drill to get to the line) and I don't want to risk that anymore.

I had more stuff to say, but then I got a phone call from the shop and they pissed me off and now I forget. Eh, I'm just getting old and crabby...

blazenblue63

Thanks Brian I appreciate it buddy. I just don't want to have to deal with a lot of squealing and dust. I understand compromises have to be made to get better than OEM results. I want to get a few hpde days in this year too so that's why I want the ATE blue in there. As well as a coolant flush.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Danny,

Because you're a single driver (like me) you want stuff that performs well when cold because you know we do half of our races in the cold and rain, and during the hot events, normally its more crowded which means plenty of cool down time between runs. We would have time to get out and spray our car down to keep it cool. With 2+ drivers running both heats, Brian's team doesn't have that ability after every run like we would.

So, per Brian's advice, that's the reason I AM running HP+ pads. Perform well when cold, good initial bite. But dusty and squeaky. Most, not all, but most track rated pads work best in a temperature range that a single driver car won't see often enough in an autocross to justify themselves.

Last season I ran Stop Tech street performance per a conversation with GT Motoring. They field some S2000 race cars and said the pads were better (they sold both types, so that shouldn't have been a contributing factor). Drove Phils S2000 with the HP+'s. So, we'll go with those next season. I don't feel like experimenting again.

I put the ATE Super Blue in the S2000, for a few extra bucks while doing a brake fluid change, you might as well. I'm going to change my fluid again this year. Again, cheap(ish) piece of mind.